Looking Back On October, Plus, 2 Things To Remember This Weekend

Stocks were mixed Friday, the
last trading day of the month.
 It
was a

mixed picture as traders focus on the upcoming
election, hoping for a clear outcome.

Economic news was mixed.
GDP came in at +3.7%, below expectations but above the previous quarter. Chicago
PMI was 68.5 for October vs  61.9 for September. A reading above 50
indicates expansion. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index
improved to 91.7 from 87.5 earlier in the month.

For the month, the Nasdaq rose 4%, the Dow fell
0.5%, and the transports made a new high. Software was up 10%, networkers gained
+9%, hardware rose +7%, and semis rose 6%. Oil rose 5% for the month.

At these levels, Google’s market cap of $53
billion is greater than that of Disney ($52B), Merrill Lynch ($50B) and Yahoo
($49B).

Today is the 75th
anniversary of Black Tuesday–the most well-known day of the 1929 crash. The Dow
fell 23.9% in two days–Monday and Tuesday–and fueled a panic that resulted in
the Great Depression. Those two days were actually the third and fourth largest
one-day percentage losses for the Dow. The largest crash was actually in 1914,
followed by the 1987 crash when the Dow lost 508 points, or 22.6%.

Don’t forget, “Fall Back” this Sunday morning, as
daylight saving time
ends. And, pick up a little candy for the
Trick-or-Treaters
Sunday night.

Dow +22.93 10027.47
S&P 500 +2.74 1130.18
Nasdaq -0.75 1974.99

Strong sectors were: Gold
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+1.78%, Oil Services
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+1.62%, Oil
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+1.28%.

Weak sectors were: Airlines
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-2.66%, Internet
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-1.83%, Brokers
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-0.44%.

The dollar was -0.36 at
84.85

Gold was +2.20 at 428.10

Crude Oil was +0.83 at 51.76

ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume was 1.5 billion on the NYSE and
1.62 billion on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was mixed.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 1871 Up Vol 781
Declining 1409 Down Vol 563
Ratio 1.32 1.38
Nasdaq
Advancing 1543 Up Vol 753
Declining 1564 Down Vol 819
Ratio 1.01 1.08

Stocks in the News


Bristol Myers
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beat by 0.05 and reaffirmed guidance.

Avon
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beat by 0.03 and raised year guidance.

Anadarko Petroleum
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reported 1.87 vs an estimate of 1.65.

Clear Channel
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CCU |
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beat by a penny at 0.04; a year ago the
company earned 1.03.

Allstate
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ALL |
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said it received a subpoena from the Connecticut
attorney general.

Merck
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received an ‘approvable’ letter from the FDA for its
Arcoxia application.

Aon
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said quarterly earnings fell because of “softening market
conditions.”

Gateway
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reported its first operating profit in nearly three
years.

Brice Wightman